Field Visit
Date 16 April 1998
Event ID 635271
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/635271
This is one of the best-known recumbent stone circles, standing encircled by a gravel path in the burial-ground beside Midmar Kirk. It is set upon the leading edge of a slight terrace facing southwards opposite the towering north flank of the Hill of Fare. Measuring 17m in diameter, the ring originally comprised about eleven stones, of which the recumbent setting and five orthostats remain, though one of the latter has been re-erected (8). The recumbent boulder (2), which measures 4.4m in length by up to 1.05m in height, is situated on the SW side of the ring and rests upon at least three support stones. Its relatively even summit has been carefully levelled, but is disfigured by graffiti; this includes some sets of initials, at least one date (1864) and several symbols akin to mason’s marks, though their large size preclude them from being genuinely medieval. Of the two flankers (1 & 3), which are 2.45m and 2.35m high respectively, the western is the more slender, but both present a similar profile to the SW, appearing to arch over the ends of the recumbent. These are the tallest stones in the ring, while the shortest of the other orthostats is on the ENE (6). The two on the southern arc of the circle (4 & 5), however, are not consistently graded in height, nor are there sufficient stones in place to determine whether the spacing of the ring closed up from S to N. In this respect the NNW orthostat (8), which has not only been repaired but also re-erected, is probably not standing in its original position. The manicured remains of a cairn form a scarp 0.3m high around the southern arc of the ring, extending about 1m outside the recumbent setting and the southernmost orthostat (4); the graded surface behind the setting suggests that a substantial body of cairn material may survive beneath the grass and gravel, though it is difficult to determine its original form and extent. If the two earthfast stones behind the W flanker and a third behind its companion on the E are kerbstones, then the setting was probably incorporated into the kerb of a cairn standing within the interior, while the scarp extending beyond the setting and the southernmost orthostat suggest the presence of on an encircling platform of cairn material.
Visited by RCAHMS (JRS, ATW, IGP and KHJM) 16 April 1998
